Buying Fundraising Software? Don’t Be Afraid To Share Budget Info!
So you’re evaluating new software, talking with the Sales Rep about what you need it to do and the conversation eventually winds to budget. You’ve looked on their website and have a pretty good feel for what costs will be (side rant: if a company doesn't list pricing at all on their website, leave. Quickly!) but want it more fleshed out.
So the Sales Rep asks what your budget is for this.
How do you respond?
You have a choice here. The default for a lot of people I talk with seems to be to get a little defensive and shut down, holding their cards close to the vest.
Certainly understandable given the salespeople from other venues folks may have dealt with.
The other reaction I get is far more helpful though. That response is to simply share what budget has been set aside, or what parameters have been discussed so far. I had a call this week where that happened and we were able to have a very helpful conversation about the tools they needed in addition to the basic costs listed on the website - most importantly we talked through how those tools related to their goals.
In fact, I started down the road with them of offering a package that fit their stated budgetary requirements but would leave them without one tool in particular that would be very helpful in their quest to raise more money.
We were able to talk through multiple options and I ended up putting together a proposal with multiple options that will be brought forward and discussed.
If their budget info hadn’t been shared, given the tenor of the conversation I probably would have put together a proposal toward the smaller side without that tool that should help them immensely. But we were honest with each other and my prospective user can now make a more informed decision that will end up more beneficial than if I simply did the guessing.
I realize that things may not always work out quite so well every single time.
I maintain though that the risk is worth the reward in the long run.
